Ejecting media before powering down.

[Lindsay Mann]

So I once worked with this DP who wanted to eject the SSD's before powering down the Epic for a battery swap. I hadn't heard of anyone doing that before and I'm wondering what his basis is for that (I didn't want to question him on set). Has anyone ever lost takes on a mag after the camera was powered down with the mag still loaded? In another case, what are the dangers of a battery being pulled while the camera is still powered up, with media still loaded? Just curious...

 

[Kemalettin Sert]

you can unload redmag anytime you want from camera while its still on.you should just press 1+2 buttons at the same time to eject media from system.dont need to power down camera each time you want to swap media

 

[Jon Carr]

If you never set your user keys, Hit 1 & 2 at the same time and your eject the card. (Just like hitting eject and undo on the redone) Or just hit media and eject. Ejecting media while camera is on won't hurt anything and is normal. Turning off camera to take media is not normal. If you loose power during the take, your loose the take, if you loose power between takes, then that's ok.

 

[Scott Crawley]

I haven't had a problem myself, but that doesn't rule out the possibility. I can understand the theory... a power spike during a battery change could damage your data... why not? Your instincts were spot on. Just handle the media as he asks. my 2¢

 

[Carlos Reyes]

Is it bad practice to take the media out when the camera is powered off?

 

[Trent Lillehaugen]

Is it bad practice to take the media out when the camera is powered off?

No.

When you power down the camera normally part of the shutdown procedure is to unmount the media.

 

[Tim Bradley]

In a normal camera power down the camera closes the take (or whatever it needs to do) so all data on the SSD should be fine.

I do not bother to eject the media before a battery change, but if the DP wants to then no point stopping them as it can't hurt.

 

[Carlos Reyes]

No.

When you power down the camera normally part of the shutdown procedure is to unmount the media.

Thanks Trent, good to know as I've been doing this regularly.

 

[Phil Bates]

No.

When you power down the camera normally part of the shutdown procedure is to unmount the media.

I'm confused. Are you saying that it is normal to "unmount" the media(using the eject command) while shutting down? Or are you saying it is ok to turn off the camera without unmounting and just pull the card out after powering down?

Thanks,
Phil

 

[Stuart McQuade]

So I once worked with this DP who wanted to eject the SSD's before powering down the Epic for a battery swap. I hadn't heard of anyone doing that before and I'm wondering what his basis is for that (I didn't want to question him on set). Has anyone ever lost takes on a mag after the camera was powered down with the mag still loaded? In another case, what are the dangers of a battery being pulled while the camera is still powered up, with media still loaded? Just curious...

In the early 90's, there were some people (IT college tutors) who said that floppy disks should be removed from computers before powering them down (before the days of hard-drives). This was, in theory, to prevent any sort of power-down issue from damaging the data on the floppy disks. Like I said, this was back in the 90's, but it may be where the DP is getting his way of thinking from.

Nothing wrong with what he's doing, of course. Just a little more time consuming.

 

[Trent Lillehaugen]

I'm confused. Are you saying that it is normal to "unmount" the media(using the eject command) while shutting down? Or are you saying it is ok to turn off the camera without unmounting and just pull the card out after powering down?

Thanks,
Phil

The camera will automatically unmount the media during a shutdown. It is safe to turn the camera off and pull the card out when the shutdown is complete.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with someone manually ejecting the media (either through the Media Dialog or the SSD 1+2 key combination) and removing the media before shutting down (if it makes them more comfortable).

 

[Phil Bates]

The camera will automatically unmount the media during a shutdown. It is safe to turn the camera off and pull the card out when the shutdown is complete.

That being said, there is nothing wrong with someone manually ejecting the media (either through the Media Dialog or the SSD 1+2 key combination) and removing the media before shutting down (if it makes them more comfortable).

Trent, the only reason I ask, is that we heard that if the camera is hooked up to a power source, there could be residual power to the media. And that if you eject while the camera is on, if there is a problem at least you have logs. So, are these concerns moot at this point?

Thanks,
Phil

 

[Lindsay Mann]

Right, thanks guys. Really it's the added time of: unmounting the media, shutting down the camera, swapping batteries, powering on. Rather than just powering down, swapping, powering on. I guess the camera is probably unmounting the media anyway. But the "hotkeys" make it way easier. Appreciate it.

 

[ericyoung]

I've never had, or heard of, a problem with not unmounting media during a camera battery change as long as the camera is shutdown properly. Where power to the camera is lost suddenly, there MAY be a problem if the camera was reading or writing to the media at that time. But usually only that take, or part of the take, will be lost.

 

[jimhare]

Hey Tim,

Yes it does, I've had the camera power itself down during takes and the clips are always fine, including the one recording while powering down.

In a normal camera power down the camera closes the take (or whatever it needs to do) so all data on the SSD should be fine.

I do not bother to eject the media before a battery change, but if the DP wants to then no point stopping them as it can't hurt.